2018 NBL Finals
The 2018 NBL Finals were the championship series of the 2017–18 NBL season and the conclusion of the season. The semi-finals started on 3 March and ended 9 March 2018. The Grand Final series started on 16 March and ended on 31 March 2018. Melbourne United won its fifth NBL championship title.
Dates | 3–31 March 2018 | ||
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Season | 2017–18 | ||
Teams | 4 | ||
Champions | Melbourne United (5th title) | ||
Runners-up | Adelaide 36ers (8th finals appearance) | ||
Semifinalists | |||
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Format
The 2017–18 National Basketball League Finals will be played in March 2018 between the top four teams of the regular season, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final and one best-of-five final series, where the higher seed hosts the first, third and fifth games.
Qualification
Qualified teams
Team | Date of qualification | Round of qualification | Finals appearance | Previous appearance | Previous best performance |
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Melbourne United | 2 February 2018 | 17 | 22nd | 2016 | Champions (1993, 1997, 2006, 2008) |
Adelaide 36ers | 4 February 2018 | 17 | 25th | 2017 | Champions (1986, 1998, 1999, 2002) |
Perth Wildcats | 4 February 2018 | 17 | 32nd | 2017 | Champions (1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017) |
New Zealand Breakers | 4 February 2018 | 17 | 8th | 2016 | Champions (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015) |
Ladder
# | Team | Pld | Won | Lost | Last 5 | Streak | Home | Away | For | Against | % Pts | % Won |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Melbourne United | 28 | 20 | 8 | 4-1 | L1 | 11-3 | 9-5 | 2,434 | 2,298 | 105.92% | 71.43% |
2 | Adelaide 36ers | 28 | 18 | 10 | 3-2 | W3 | 10-4 | 8-6 | 2,654 | 2,527 | 105.03% | 64.29% |
3 | Perth Wildcats | 28 | 16 | 12 | 2-3 | W1 | 9-5 | 7-7 | 2,388 | 2,271 | 105.15% | 57.14% |
4 | New Zealand Breakers | 28 | 15 | 13 | 1-4 | L4 | 9-5 | 6-8 | 2,364 | 2,387 | 99.04% | 53.57% |
5 | Illawarra Hawks | 28 | 12 | 16 | 2-3 | W2 | 7-7 | 5-9 | 2,474 | 2,539 | 97.44% | 42.86% |
6 | Cairns Taipans | 28 | 11 | 17 | 1-4 | L1 | 8-6 | 3-11 | 2,215 | 2,281 | 97.11% | 39.29% |
7 | Sydney Kings | 28 | 11 | 17 | 4-1 | W4 | 6-8 | 5-9 | 2,418 | 2,504 | 96.57% | 39.29% |
8 | Brisbane Bullets | 28 | 9 | 19 | 1-4 | L3 | 6-8 | 3-11 | 2,347 | 2,487 | 94.37% | 32.14% |
Ladder Progression
- Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top four.
- Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
- Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | |
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Adelaide 36ers | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
Brisbane Bullets | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | |
Cairns Taipans | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | |
Illawarra Hawks | 5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | |
Melbourne United | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
New Zealand Breakers | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
Perth Wildcats | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | |
Sydney Kings | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
Seedings
The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.
Bracket
Semi-finals | Grand Final | ||||||||||||||
1 | Melbourne United | 88 | 88 | X | |||||||||||
4 | New Zealand Breakers | 77 | 86 | X | |||||||||||
1 | Melbourne United | 107 | 95 | 101 | 81 | 100 | |||||||||
2 | Adelaide 36ers | 96 | 110 | 98 | 90 | 82 | |||||||||
2 | Adelaide 36ers | 109 | 89 | X | |||||||||||
3 | Perth Wildcats | 74 | 88 | X | |||||||||||
Semi-finals series
(1) Melbourne United vs (4) New Zealand Breakers
Game 1
Fox Sports |
3 March 2018 5:30pm EDT |
Melbourne United 88, New Zealand Breakers 77 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21-24, 22-19, 24-18, 21-16 | ||
Pts: Casper Ware 33 Rebs: Josh Boone 8 Asts: Tai Wesley 4 |
Pts: D. J. Newbill 19 Rebs: Alex Pledger 10 Asts: Shea Ili 5 | |
Melbourne leads series, 1–0 |
Game 2
Fox Sports |
5 March 2018 7:30pm NZDT |
New Zealand Breakers 86, Melbourne United 88 (OT) | ||
Scoring by quarter: 26-13, 12-20, 25-25, 15-20, Overtime: 8-10 | ||
Pts: D. J. Newbill 21 Rebs: Rakeem Christmas 8 Asts: Thomas Abercrombie 5 |
Pts: Josh Boone 33 Rebs: Josh Boone 15 Asts: Chris Goulding 6 | |
Melbourne wins series, 2–0 |
Regular season series
Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 351-346 points differential to New Zealand:
(2) Adelaide 36ers vs (3) Perth Wildcats
Game 1
Fox Sports |
3 March 2018 7:00pm CDT |
Adelaide 36ers 109, Perth Wildcats 74 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 19-18, 31-26, 26-18, 33-12 | ||
Pts: Josh Childress 22 Rebs: Mitch Creek 11 Asts: Shannon Shorter 7 |
Pts: Bryce Cotton 22 Rebs: Brandt, Cooke 6 Asts: Jarrod Kenny 4 | |
Adelaide leads series, 1–0 |
Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, James Boyer, Chris Reid |
Game 2
Fox Sports |
9 March 2018 6:30pm WST |
Perth Wildcats 88, Adelaide 36ers 89 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 28-15, 21-25, 18-23, 21-26 | ||
Pts: Bryce Cotton 31 Rebs: Angus Brandt 9 Asts: JP Tokoto 5 |
Pts: Josh Childress 25 Rebs: Josh Childress 10 Asts: Nathan Sobey 5 | |
Adelaide wins series, 2–0 |
Regular season series
Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 367-360 points differential to Perth:
Grand Final series
(1) Melbourne United vs (2) Adelaide 36ers
Game 1
Fox Sports |
16 March 2018 7:30pm EDT |
Melbourne United 107, Adelaide 36ers 96 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 29-28, 24-19, 26-24, 28-25 | ||
Pts: Chris Goulding 26 Rebs: Josh Boone 7 Asts: Wesley, Hooley 5 |
Pts: Daniel Johnson 18 Rebs: Mitch Creek 9 Asts: Creek, Moore 4 | |
Melbourne leads series 1–0 |
Game 2
Fox Sports |
18 March 2018 2:30pm CDT |
Adelaide 36ers 110, Melbourne United 95 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 27-19, 30-22, 25-23, 28-31 | ||
Pts: Majok Deng 18 Rebs: Mitch Creek 9 Asts: Nathan Sobey 5 |
Pts: Casey Prather 20 Rebs: Casey Prather 7 Asts: Tai Wesley 3 | |
Series tied 1–1 |
Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide Attendance: 7,000 Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen, Matt Townsend |
Game 3
Fox Sports |
23 March 2018 7:30pm EDT |
Melbourne United 101, Adelaide 36ers 98 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 33-22, 20-31, 28-22, 20-23 | ||
Pts: Casper Ware 25 Rebs: Casey Prather 6 Asts: Ware, Hooley 3 |
Pts: Daniel Johnson 20 Rebs: Creek, Deng 8 Asts: Mitch Creek 5 | |
Melbourne leads series 2–1 |
Game 4
Fox Sports |
25 March 2018 2:30pm CDT |
Adelaide 36ers 90, Melbourne United 81 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 29-21, 26-10, 16-27, 19-23 | ||
Pts: Daniel Johnson 21 Rebs: Daniel Johnson 9 Asts: Shannon Shorter 3 |
Pts: Casey Prather 23 Rebs: Casey Prather 7 Asts: Chris Goulding 4 | |
Series tied 2–2 |
Titanium Security Arena, Adelaide Attendance: 7,500 Referees: Vaughan Mayberry, Michael Aylen, Chris Reid |
Game 5
Fox Sports |
31 March 2018 6:00pm EDT |
Melbourne United 100, Adelaide 36ers 82 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 34-22, 23-22, 21-25, 22-13 | ||
Pts: Goulding, Ware 23 Rebs: Josh Boone 12 Asts: Tai Wesley 3 |
Pts: Shannon Shorter 20 Rebs: Mitch Creek 10 Asts: Ramone Moore 7 | |
Melbourne wins series and NBL Championship, 3–2 |
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